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I have a laptop ThinkPad Edge E430, with Xubuntu 12.04.4 LTS installed on it. I'm using wicd to manage my networks. My wired network works just fine, but I can't detect any wireless network ("no wireless networks found") although I've checked that there were several wireless networks available nearby (I have a dualboot with windows).

  • Wicd network manager

I've reinstalled the wicd, just for case:

sudo apt-get install --reinstall wicd

I've tried this great AskUbuntu troubleshooting answer [My WiFi adapter is not working at all, how to troubleshoot?]:

I've installed all updates. I've checked my network with lshw:

sudo lshw -C network

*-network               
   description:   Wireless interface
   product:       BCM4313 802.11bgn Wireless Network Adapter
   vendor:        Broadcom Corporation
   physical id:   0
   bus info:      pci@0000:03:00.0
   logical name:  eth2
   version:       01
   serial:        08:3e:8e:a2:91:9f
   width:         64 bits
   clock:         33MHz
   capabilities:  pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
   configuration: broadcast=yes driver=wl0 driverversion=6.20.155.1 (r326264)
                  latency=0 multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11abg
   resources:     irq:17 memory:f2d00000-f2d03fff

I ran rfkill for possible software and hardware switches:

rfkill list

0: tpacpi_bluetooth_sw: Bluetooth
   Soft blocked: no
   Hard blocked: no
1: phy0: Wireless LAN
   Soft blocked: no
   Hard blocked: no
2: brcmwl-0: Wireless LAN
   Soft blocked: no
   Hard blocked: no

I figured out that I have "hardware requiring special care" as mentioned at the bottom of the post so I followed attached link [Installing Broadcom Wireless Drivers].

My wireless card is:

lspci -nn -d 14e4:

Broadcom Corporation BCM4313 802.11bgn Wireless Network Adapter [14e4:4727] (rev 01)

So the table suggested me to install bcmwl since my kernel version is 3.2.0-67-generic.

sudo apt-get install bcmwl-kernel-source

bcmwl-kernel-source is already the newest version.

I've rebooted my PC.

And now I'm stuck. Can you help me solve the wireless network issue or at least locate the problem? Is it driver issue? Is it wicd issue? Is it bfu user issue?

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  • Please run the script that is in the accepted answer in the link below so we may see the information needed to help diagnose the issue. <askubuntu.com/questions/425155/…>
    – Wild Man
    Aug 27, 2014 at 13:49
  • I was looking in some older posts for the same issue: is the wireless interface listed in the wicd preferences? answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/220088 Aug 27, 2014 at 14:42
  • Include the output of iwlist wlan0 scan (replacing wlan0 with whatever your device is called).
    – Braiam
    Aug 27, 2014 at 14:48

4 Answers 4

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That's probably because the wireless interface hasn't been recognized.

Go to Wicd Network Manager (if you can't find it type Wicd in Application Launcher) > Preferences (arrow right top corner) > General Settings tab.

On Wireless Interface write the name of your interface (usually wlan0 but it can be something else. To find out what it is, run iwconfig in terminal).

  • Reboot.
  • Rescan, NOT from Wicd Network Manager, but from System Tray (righ click on icon).
  • Wait.

If your wireless interface still hasn't been recognized perhaps it's just switched off. If you have a laptop check if there isn't a physical button to turn it on.

If the answer was useful, click the up arrow "^"

1

Problem solved.
Solution: I gave up and used the last option - reinstalled the OS from scratch. I've installed the latest Trusty Tahr LTS and everything works fine. I was using the OS for just a couple of weeks so the loss of time and effort isn't that huge.

1
  • But to be honest, from the first view Trusty Tahr looks and works way better than Precise Pangolin. They really did some work there.
    – Jeyekomon
    Aug 27, 2014 at 15:02
0

Open a terminal and insert these commands:

sudo apt-get install linux-headers-generic
sudo apt-get install --reinstall bcmwl-kernel-source

reboot and see if it works

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  • I tried. Linux headers were already the newest version. I rebooted the PC and no success. Can't detect any wireless network although I'm in range of several of them. Wired network still works fine.
    – Jeyekomon
    Aug 27, 2014 at 10:05
  • But you did reinstall the bcmwl-kerle-source?
    – Mihai
    Aug 27, 2014 at 10:09
  • Of course I did all the commands you provided.
    – Jeyekomon
    Aug 27, 2014 at 10:19
  • I edited my response, please try the new commands
    – Mihai
    Aug 27, 2014 at 10:41
  • Sorry for delay, I've been reinstalling wicd, just for case, checking for non-wicd way of displaying wireless etc. I ran both commands, rebooted but still no wireless networks were found. :-( Something must be terribly wrong in my PC.
    – Jeyekomon
    Aug 27, 2014 at 11:08
-1

Just to be sure, try to uninstall Network Manager with sudo apt-get purge nm-applet

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  • 2
    Why in the world would he want to do this?
    – Seth
    Aug 27, 2014 at 14:13
  • @Seth: Well I actually did it after I installed the wicd.
    – Jeyekomon
    Aug 27, 2014 at 14:51

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